Ferret and Female
by madlucy88
Summary: Can Hermione Granger overcome one of the greatest pains for the living. Loss. Violation. Rape. Love.


Hermione woke up in the infirmary. It looked to be around midnight. She was wearing a nightgown. She didn't know what had happen. It was like she blinked and was in an entirely different place. One second she was walking to the library and the next here she was, in an infirmary bed. She felt disorientated and lost. Her mind was all fuzz and her vision was blurry. Hermione tried to clear her eyes but it didn't work. After a while she gave up trying to see or think and went back to sleep.

She dreamed of . . . something. She wasn't quite sure but it made her uncomfortable. It was dark and the images were obscure but disturbing to a great extreme. She could see the outline of a man. A man over her. Close. She could see his neck, his shoulder, his chest muscles, but his face was too vague to place specific features. He was on top of her. She wanted to be somewhere else but he held her down. He was too strong. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. But she just laid there, moving with him. She wanted to stop, wanted him to stop. She knew what he was doing. No. No. NO.

"Nooooooo!" She was sitting up in a bed, sweating like crazy, gasping for breath, and clutching at her chest. Her head pounded insanely as she clutched it in her hands. She screamed again and again. The pain too much to bear. Suddenly what little light in the room faded into pitch blackness and she passed out on the bed.

Hermione felt two hands griping her shoulders, trying to shake her wake gently. She groaned, not wanting to open her eyes. The person kept shaking her, but Hermione was unresponsive. "Come on, dear. You have to get up now. You're going to miss breakfast." Food, the thought was appealing enough to make her open her eyes. Her stomach growled and her bladder was straining to keep everything inside. She saw Madame Pomfrey looking down at her. "Ah, good. Now get ready, dear. You must be hungry."

Madame Pomfrey drew the curtains around her bed and left. Hermione got dressed slowly, examining her body as she went. No bruises, no cuts. Her inner thighs hurt and so did her precious self. She had heard descriptions of this feeling from her mother and friends. The first time. But how could that be? She knew she hadn't willingly engaged in that kind of act. She hadn't planned on that until she was ready. So why did she think it had happened?

Hermione went and relieved herself before she walked to Madame Pomfrey's office. She hesitantly knocked on the door frame. Madame Pomfrey looked up from her desk and smiled, beckoning Hermione to come in and sit down. Hermione was . . . weary. And somehow sad. "Why was I here?"

Madame Pomfrey suddenly looked sullen. "Well, at around eleven last night the Head Girl found you in an empty room. She knew something was wrong because you were," she paused, not wanting to continue, "indisposed." Hermione stared at the nurse, her mind a blank as well as her face. Indisposed?

"What do you mean?"

"Well, your shirt was undone and your robes and tie were next to you. Your clothes were covered in sweat. You had a very high fever. I expect you did that stuff yourself to try to cool yourself down. You were probably delirious. Did you hallucinate anything?"

"I think so."

"I gave you a potion to get your fever down and you're all right now. Go on ahead to breakfast."

Hermione left and walked to the Great Hall. She sat down with Ron and Harry, feeling distant from them. She didn't want to tell them what she think happen. It looked to her that they didn't even know she was in the infirmary. So there was no point in telling them. She kept so many secrets from them. She didn't talk to anyone all during breakfast and ate as much as

Ron usually does. Her first class was Arthricmacy. She left breakfast early and sat in the classroom dazed. But she felt eyes burning into her. Hermione was too out of it to notice though. When the bell rang she just sat there until she heard a familiar voice echo in her ears.

"You going to sit there all day, Mudblood?" Hermione hurriedly brushed past the boy and bumped into another boy entering the room. The reaction was immediate. She fell to the ground shaking and sweating. Her professor ordered an older girl to take her to the infirmary. Halfway there Hermione felt fine so she told the girl to go back to class and walked to Transfiguration. She was a minute or two late but McGonagall didn't take any points away. Hermione went through every class in a daze, barely thinking. Ron and Harry thought something was wrong for sure when she didn't raise her hand to answer a single question.

All the Gryffindors and Slytherins were shocked when she didn't even make the assigned potion and received a zero. Everyone in the class stared at her when Snape told her she got a zero and she didn't even react. Hermione stared at the blackboard and sighed. Even Snape was stunned. He waved his hands in front of her face and snapped his fingers in her ears. No reaction. Nothing. She was on auto-drive. And the whole school knew it. It was the topic on everyone's lips. Hermione 'know-it-all' Grange didn't raise her hand all day, didn't do any of the in class assignments, didn't take any notes. Didn't even talk all day. What could cause such a drastic change? The teachers wanted to know why.

Hermione was just sitting at the table, pushing her food around on her plate, when Dumbledore spoke.

"Will Miss Hermione Granger please come up to the Head table?"

Nothing happen. Hermione just sat there continuing to push around her food. No one spoke. Harry poked her in the side and she didn't react. Finally McGonagall walked over to her and pulled her up from the table. She gently walked her to the room behind the Head table followed by all of Hermione's professors and the headmaster. The remaining professors and students burst into whispered conversations.

Inside the room, McGonagall sat Hermione down in a comfy chair. At the change in her daily routine Hermione came out of her trance and looked at all the professors watching her closely. Dumbledore whispered to Professor Vector who left the room nodding to the headmaster.

"Are you okay, Miss Granger?" he asked looking at her unsure what to think.

"I'm fine."

"You're acting very strange, dear," McGonagall said concerned for her student.

"Do you feel alright?" Sprout asked.

"Yes. What do you mean by 'strange,' professor?"

"Well, you haven't answered any questions or talked at all. We're worried about you. Did something happen to y—" She was cut off by the entrance of Professor Vector and Madame Pomfrey.

"She seemed fine when she left," Madame Pomfrey was saying to the other woman. She rushed over to Hermione and immediately started to examine her. "Hmmm. It looks like she's just tired. Maybe she should just stay in bed tomorrow."

"Ya herd 'er. Stay in bed 'morrow. Don' geh up fo' anythin'," Hagrid said looking the most concerned.

"What about food?" Hermione asked. She didn't feel like she was really in the room. She felt detached from everything. Like she was watching a movie.

"Well, of course get up for food," Professor Vector said. "Maybe someone should walk her up to her dormitory," she said turning to McGonagall.

"No, I'll walk myself," and with that Hermione got up and left. Everyone in the Great Hall got quite as she entered and walked out. She went all the way up to her dormitory and fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow. She knew she should be freaked out by her strange day but she wasn't. The next day she lay in bed sleeping. She didn't wake for food or to go to the bathroom. She just slept all day.

When she went back to class the day after her 36 hour nap she felt refreshed and ready to go. She put the last couple of days out of her mind and plastered a smile on her face. She raised her hand in class, took notes, and did the assignments. Everything was back to normal. People stopped talking about the legendary day the biggest 'know-it-all' in the known and unknown universe had a literal off day. Her professors stopped watching her like hawks and treated her like normal. Harry and Ron stopped acting like she was going to explode. Everyone figured Hermione just needed a break from knowing everything. But really they didn't know what happen. Not even Hermione knew what happen to her that day. So she tried to forget it. And she was pretty successful.

But everyonce in a while she would bump into someone and would collapse. She thought it was nothing and just say that she needed more nutrition. So she started to take vitamin potions to keep up her strength. She would still collapse though. People thought it was strange. Madame Pomfrey said it could just be a side effect of the fever she had a while ago.

A month had passed since that infamous day, when Draco Malfoy didn't show up for the morning potions class. No one knew where he was. He never came back from his patrol the night before. Snape left the class to go check the Slytherin dormitory and turned up baffled. He didn't tell his students what he was told by Draco Malfoy. He was lying in his bed when Snape got there and told Snape if he didn't leave him alone he would get his father to have him fired and killed. Snape assumed that Malfoy was sick and in pain so he didn't think much of it. But was put off all the same.

What Snape didn't know was that when any of the other Slytherin boys went into the dormitory Draco Malfoy wasn't there. His bed was empty but his trunk was a mess. No one said anything though. Snape told the rest of Malfoy's teachers not to expect him in class today. So they didn't. He told them he was sick and not to bother him. So they didn't. Word went around that Malfoy was sick and it was speculated by the students he was in the infirmary. They were right and they were wrong.

That night Hermione Granger was supposed to patrol the castle with the 'missing' boy but instead went by herself. She hummed as she walked through the castle corridors, thinking of some homework she wanted to finish when she got back to the room she shared with the other sixth year girls. What she didn't know was that she would never get back to that room. Not this night.

While she was humming she drowned out another noise. The noise of someone sneaking up on her. They grabbed her, holding her arms to her sides. As she opened her mouth to scream she chocked on a liquid going down her throat. After that moment everything was hazy. She could feel her sweat on her skin. The cool breeze of the night air on her body and she could see the stars, blurry from her vision. She wondered where she was and what that extremely hot feeling was.

She closed her eyes to clear her head but when she opened them she didn't see the stars she expected. A dark ceiling was above her. Hermione sat up and looked around. Back in the infirmary. The bed next to her was surrounded by curtains. She could hear the breathing of the person on that bed. But she was distracted by the pain in her lower torso and inner thighs. She started to cry. Hermione knew what happen last time and she knew what happen this time. She had been raped.

Hermione cried for hours. She didn't even notice when the person in the bed next to her stirred. Whoever it was they were woken by her muffled sobs and whimpers. They just barely drew the curtains apart. Only enough to see her. She didn't detect the big yellow-gold eye watching her from her left. She cried herself to sleep never knowing that someone was watching her.

When Hermione did wake the next morning the curtains were still drawn around the other bed. Madame Pomfrey noticed that she had awoken and walked over to her carrying a potion vial for Hermione to take.

"Well, my dear, it seems you're still sick."

"No," Hermione replied softly. "I'm not sick."

"Whatever do you mean, girl? You had an extremely high fever again."

"I'm not sick!" she screamed at the woman. Hermione was too tired to cry again. "I've been raped," she said quietly. Madame Pomfrey gasped and dropped the vial. It shattered into a thousand pieces. Hermione pretended that the broken class was her. Cracked. Ruined. Destroyed. Violated. To Hermione nothing could ever be right again. She was no longer a person but an empty shell. But the worst feeling of all was the shame.

"Who?"

"I don't know. All I know is it happen. It happen last time too. I was never sick. I had been raped," she barley got the words to be audible. But the nurse heard her anyway. They person who was watching her last night heard it too. This person's hearing was advanced at the moment so her words echoed through their ears.

"I'll get Dumbledore immediately." And with that she was gone. But so was Hermione. Her body was still sitting on that bed but she was no longer there. She was somewhere else. Hermione was somewhere else when Dumbledore came, when he asked her questions, when he came up with a plan. He told her that he would have two order members guard her when she got out of the infirmary. He also wanted her to stay there for a couple of days. But she wasn't listening. Her ears took in the sound but her mind didn't get the message. It was going to be kept secret for Hermione's sake. They knew she want her friends to know, but he still had to tell her parents. Dumbledore told her that she could go home for a month after they caught the man that did this to her. Dumbledore left. Madame Pomfrey left. She was alone. At least she thought she was alone.

This time she did notice the big yellow-gold eye staring at her between the curtains. When she looked right at the eye a little squeak was emitted from the person. She laughed. It was a petite noise like the squeak but it was there all the same. Then she thought. If she could laugh even a little then there must be hope for her. Suddenly she was angry. Not at the person who did this to her but herself. It was despicable to Hermione that she gave up hope. That she thought she was nothing now. She still had breath in her. She could move and think. Which meant she could find out who did this to her and make him pay. It was amazing to her that one little squeak could cause such a reaction in her. Whoever this person next to her was she owed them for saving her.

"Hey, come out. I won't hurt you," she said to the person who had drawn the curtains all the way closed. "Please, I won't laugh either." When the person peaked out their head Hermione had to stifle a gasp. The face in front of her was covered in white fur. She could tell it was a boy. He was a lot shorter than Hermione and she could tell by the fur sticking out of his pajamas that his whole body was blanketed in the white hair. His nose was black and wet and the teeth peaking out of his mouth were sharp. Hermione didn't notice she was reaching out her hands to touch his ears until she felt the soft silky fuzz. They flattened back at her touch and the boy emitted another squeak. He came closer and sat on her bed, watching her. His half-paw, half-hand grabbed her hand and moved it behind his ear.

"What–? Oh! You want me to scratch your ear?" He squeaked his approval as she started to scratch. After a while he started to whimper in happiness. Hermione began to chuckle lightly at the noise the boy made. This only made him mad. He snapped his head away from her hand. "Oh, I'm sorry. It was just so cute." The ferret just looked at her in confusion. He rolled those huge eyes and made a grunting noise in his throat. "Sorry. I know I told you I wouldn't laugh." He just made dismissive hand wave at her. "Can't you talk?" He shook his head. "Did someone cast a spell on you?" He nodded. "Well, I'm sure Madame Pomfrey can fix this. I mean, in my second year I had a tail, fur, and cat ears and look at me now!" She said trying to cheer him up. The boy looked her up and down and made some kind of throat/nose noise. She laughed.

Hermione spent the rest of the day with the fur covered boy, eating and chatting him up even though he couldn't respond. He couldn't hold a quill. And she just assumed he was younger than her by his size. She enjoyed his company and the smell of the expensive soap in his fur. When she woke up the next morning wanting to talk to him again. He was sitting on her bed when she woke up. Hermione noticed an improvement in his animalistic features. His fur was falling out in places and his nose was paled. His eyes were now an emerald green which reminded her of Harry. She assumed that this was his natural eye color.

It was around lunch time when Hermione's new found peace was demolished.

Draco Malfoy walked into the infirmary, looking for Madame Pomfrey. When he found her he said he had an upset stomach. She sat him down on the bed next to Hermione and went to get the medicine. The white-furred boy just stared at him, not looking at Hermione anymore. As he glared at Draco Malfoy his eyes turned back to the yellow-gold and all the improvement he had was gone. Suddenly he started to squeak loudly like he was trying to scream something, Hermione tried to calm him down but to no avail. He kept doing it until Madame Pomfrey rushed back and forced him to drink a calming potion. He sat down on Hermione's bed, fighting to stay awake. Draco Malfoy just gave the boy an evil grin before turning to Hermione.

"Hello, Hermione."

"I don't believe we are on a first name basis, Malfoy," she snapped back viscously. He just smiled at her. Then he got up and leaned over her. She could smell his sweat. It made her knees shake and her head fuzz.

"Not after what I did last night," he whispered to her face. She paled. She couldn't breath. "And a month ago." He laughed. Then he was running out of the infirmary at top speed, laughing loudly as he left.

"Nnnnn." It wasn't Hermione. Hermione lost her voice. It was the boy. He scrambled around on her bed for a second then quickly stumbled out of the infirmary after Draco Malfoy. Hermione had already passed out.

The whole castle was searched. But Draco Malfoy and the fur-covered boy weren't any where to be found. Hermione was worried that Malfoy had done something terrible to the young boy. She thought the boy ran after Malfoy to catch him or hurt him. She missed the boy.

It had been two days since Malfoy talked to her and Hermione was back to her regular schedule. No one knew what was going on with Hermione or Malfoy. Harry and Ron kept asking Hermione what was wrong with her. She just told them that she was sick. When they wondered aloud where Malfoy was she would just shake her head and say she didn't know. She was anticipating the day of her next night patrol. She knew that after the end of her classes two people would guard her. But she ignored them and it wasn't that hard, considering they were invisible. It was nice though knowing they were there. Protecting her.

Finally as the day arrived she was shaking all over. She could barely get through the day. Hermione didn't eat any food and felt very week by the time she got to dinner. Her friends told her to eat something but her stomach refused all entry of substance. After dinner Hermione walked the halls until everyone went to bed. She kept walking. It was around ten when she got near the north tower. Suddenly Hermione heard a nosie ahead of her.

"Granger! Please." She turned to her left and saw him. He was hiding behind a corner. He looked dilapidated and tired. His hair was a mess and his clothes were falling apart. He had lost weight because he hadn't eaten in a week. His breath was ragged. Hermione was scared all the same. She didn't even know he had even uttered the word 'please' to her. He started to walk towards her and she gasped.

"Help!" she yelled for her two guards. They came out from under their cloaks and rushed Draco Malfoy. He was confused. They pushed him to the floor and pulled his arms behind his back.

"Is this him?" Tonks asked Hermione. Malfoy stared at her, pleading her with his eyes. Begging her. But Hermione didn't see it. All she saw was the boy who raped her. She nodded. Malfoy looked defeated and shocked. Tonks and Moody started to take Malfoy away. "Don't worry, Hermione. He'll be well taken care of," Tonks said nastily. Hermione felt like crying. She had justice but she felt horrible.

"Granger! NO! GRANGER!"

She started walking. She just needed to walk. Needed to get away from his screams. Part of this was closed. The next part was getting over it. So she kept walking. Slowly his voice faded. Walking felt good. She was feeling better, walking. Her mind was clearing as she was walking. The more she walked the more she remembered the look on his face. It confused her. He acted like he did nothing. That angered her. Then she remember what he said. He didn't call her Hermione and he said please. He said please to her. That couldn't be right. Draco Malfoy would never say please to anyone.

Hermione fell to the floor, her limbs stuck to her sides. Her head slammed into the ground. She would have cried out if it was possible but she was in a full body bind. She felt herself being dragged in the direction of her feet. Her hair went out behind her and so did her robes and skirt. Her underwear was exposed and whoever it was dragging her chuckled. It was deep noise. And evil.

"Ooh, I remember that," he said. She couldn't see him, but she knew him. She could feel his hands on her calves. She hated him.

He stopped dragging her and slowly ran his hands up her legs as he knelt down beside her. Then he put his face right over hers. His smile was evil and cold. She didn't recognize him but she felt immense hatred towards him. She could smell him and it made her weak. He smelled like sweat and cigarettes.

"One more time, then it will be over. No more us. Or should I say 'no more you.'" He planed on killing her after this time. He moved his hand to his breast. "Gee, loosen up. Don't be so stiff." He laughed at his joke then removed the spell. Hermione immediately started to fight him but he grabbed her wrists. "I like to have variety in what we do."

"There is no we, you bastard!" He just laughed. He brought his wand down to her face and shot a calming spell on her. Hermione felt tired almost instantly. She closed her eyes and it took a lot of effort to open them.

Tonks and Moody were having a hard time keeping a hold of Draco Malfoy. He was strong. He maneuvered his weight so that he could shove Tonks into a wall. She cried out and let go of him in pain. He got one hand free and punched Moody. Then he ran. He ran back to Hermione. He had to get to her. Prove to her it wasn't him.

He couldn't see her anywhere. He ran for five minutes checking rooms. After checking about twenty rooms he almost gave up hope and even slowed down to catch his breath. He felt helpless. It was a new and overwhelming experience to him. When his breathing slowed he realized he could hear something.

Laughter.

He followed the sound to a room. He put his ear to the door. He could hear Hermione barely calling out for help. He tried the doorknob but it was locked. He didn't have his wand. He took a few steps back and kicked the door down.

Draco Malfoy saw a boy he had never met on top of Hermione. She was barely moving but protesting all the same. The boy was unbuttoning Hermione's blouse and kiss her bare chest as he went along. The boy looked up at Draco. He had dark brown hair and black eyes. He got off of Hermione and stood up, facing Draco like he was ready for a fight. Draco could see his prefect's badge. And his Gryffindor crest.

"I thought I got rid of you. Piece of Death Eater scum!"

"No one can get rid of me. Especially a shit eating rapist!" Darco spat back. The boy was angered and rushed Draco. He pushed him against a wall and started punching him. Draco didn't get a chance to hit him back before the boy fell to the floor, crying out in pain. Draco also fell to the floor, passing out.

Hermione could feel him kissing her chest. She was calling out for help but her voice wasn't working. She wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere but here. She hated him for everything he did to her and what he was still doing to her. He was trying to destroy her. And he was succeeding.

He stopped. He was no longer on top of her. She could hear voices. The second one was familiar. It reminded her that she never gave up. She slowly got up reaching for her wand as she did so. Hermione focused her eyes on the boy who had raped her and shot him with a curse and all her hatred.

"CRUICO!" He withered on the ground in pain. She only lifted the curse when she had to take the calming spell off herself. Then she started hitting him with it again. She didn't stop when Tonks and Moody burst into the room. They were shocked by the look on Hermione's face. And they surged over to her to stop her. They grabbed her arms and pulled her wand out of her hand. All the while she was protesting, "No! I have to kill him. I have to kill him!"

Tonks looked Hermione in the face. "What did he do?"

"HE RAPED ME! He deserves to die," she finished quietly.

"What about Malfoy?"

"It wasn't him. It was me." They all turned to look at the Gryffindor prefect. He had the most evil smile on his face which darkened the sun. "I did it," he said proudly. He started to laugh. Hermione recognized him now. He was a year ahead of her and he had Arthicmacy after her. She bumped into him before. He did this. Not Draco Malfoy. "I turned that little shit into that ferret and brewed a polyjuice potion so that I could pin it on him. Just for the hell of it." He had his wand out. "And now I'm going to finish the job I started. Avada K—"

He was tackled to the floor by Draco before he could finish the spell that would end Hermione's life. Hermione fainted and all went black.

Draco was wakened by words he knew too well. He jumped the person saying them causing the boy to halt his curse. Draco Malfoy saved Hermione Granger's life. Why?

Tonks and Moody grabbed the boy and confiscated his wand. Dragging him towards the door, Moody turned to face Draco who was sitting on the ground in front of Hermione watching Tonks and Moody.

"Take her to the infirmary," Moody ordered Draco while pointing at Hermione who was passed out.

"We're sorry about tackling you before. We didn't know," Tonks said to him with a weak smile. Draco could hear Moody reply as their voices faded when they left.

"I'm not. He is a Malfoy. . ."

Draco turned to Hermione. She looked peaceful. He picked her up in his arms and started walking towards the infirmary. He laid her down in a bed and sat in the chair next to it. He decided he should stay there in case Tonks and Moody lost the boy and he needed to defend Hermione while she slept. But he didn't watch over her long before he fell asleep. He dreamed of killing the boy and Hermione hiding behind him. It made him smile in his sleep.

Hermione could smell something very dirty. It was a sweat and grim smell. But you could tell it was once collogue soaked. She also smelled wet fur. She opened her eyes. She was holding a very filthy hand near her mouth. In fact, the back of the hand was touching her lips and chin. She saw Draco Malfoy asleep. He was sitting on the ground, his head resting on her bed.

He was holding her hand.

Hermione sat up carefully; she didn't want to wake him. She slowly let go of his hand and walked toward the infirmary bathroom. She wanted to take a shower and needed to relieve herself. After she took her hot shower she felt refreshed and renewed. She took some of the infirmary pajamas and attempted to brush her hair. It was harder when it was wet so she just gave up after an hour. Her total bathroom time was two hours.

When she left the bathroom she had a smile on her face. She didn't see Draco but she saw Madame Pomfrey drawing the curtains around a bed. She walked over to the older woman. Hermione smiled at her. Madame Pomfrey looked shocked.

"Are you okay, dear?"

"Fine. Do you need any help today?"

"Yes, but I don't think you should—"

"No, I insist. I will help you today. You should go get some fresh air or something to eat." Hermione would not take no for an answer. "Now, do you have some clothes I could use?"

"Yes, of course."

Hermione dressed in the honorary nurse's Madame Pomfrey gave to her when she said she wanted to volunteer some help. She walked into Madame Pomfrey's office looking for the chart that said who was in at the moment. There was one name.

Draco Malfoy.

Hermione walked out of the office and towards the draped bed. She pulled back the curtain and peaked in her head. She saw him laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was wearing blue pajamas and his hair was a mess.

"Hello, do you need anything?"

He turned and looked at her. Then nodded his head. She stepped in and sat down.

"Water." She conjured up some water in a glass.

"So, er, what seems to be the problem?" He just looked at her. Hermione didn't hear anything that boy had said after he confessed he did it. So she didn't know that Draco was the ferret boy. He didn't want to tell her. It was embarrassing but he didn't know she didn't know about the ferret boy's identity.

"Like you don't know."

"I don't know." He looked up at her, shocked. Suddenly he felt relieved, but he had a abrupt urge to tell her. He opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it and closed his mouth. After a second of thought in which Hermione stared at him confused he spoke.

"I haven't eaten in a couple of days."

"Oh!" She started to wring her hands and look around. He stared at her, slightly amused. "What would you like to eat?"

"Er, I don't know. What do you suggest?"

"Well, since it's breakfast, how about eggs and bacon?"

"Okay," he didn't really care what she said. He just wanted some food. Hermione conjured up some food and he started to eat. Draco was expecting her to leave and when he picked up the fork and saw that she was still sitting there, watching him, he stopped.

"Thank you." He was shocked. He didn't know why she was thanking him and it scared him. Maybe she was warped by the experience from last night.

"What?"

"I said, 'Thank you,'" she said leaning forward with gratitude in her eyes. But Draco couldn't meet her eyes.

"Why are you thanking me?"

"You saved my life last night. I owe you a big debt." He was suddenly angry.

"You don't owe me anything. I didn't do it to save you. I did to save me. I wouldn't do anything for you!" He sounded extremely disgusted.

"What do you mean?" she asked confused and hurt in her voice.

"When I attacked him it was to clear my name, not to save the likes of you!"

"What about when you tackled him? He was in the middle of killing me!"

"The only reason I tackled him was because I wanted to hurt him as much as I could! It had nothing to do with saving you. I didn't even know what he was saying. I should've waited until he was done. At least then I would be rid of you!"

Hermione picked up his plate of food and wacked him hard in the face. His head flew into the bed and instead of yelling out like he meant to, he squeaked. Suddenly he felt the fur on his chest start to spread slowly. He squeaked again to try and yelp for help but Hermione had left the second the plate connected with his face. He was slowly turning into the ferret again. To his horror.

Nothing could stop it. It spread with undying conviction to occupy every piece of flesh on his body. He squeaked louder as it spread to his face. Draco felt his vocal cords changed. It was not a pleasant transformation. Nor a little pain for him. He was no longer squealing for help but out of torment. He did not notice the hurried footsteps of two dainty but sure woman.

The curtains, being yanked back, did not reveal a boy—or even a boy covered in fur—but a pile of bedclothes and pajamas. Madame Pomfrey and Hermione stopped short, baffled. They looked at each other for assurance of what they saw was real. Each had the same question in her mind.

Is Draco Malfoy running around naked some where?

The answer was forthcoming for movement was seen under the sheets and pajamas. A squeak reached their ears. Hermione's brow wrinkled at the sound. Draco would be running around naked soon. Not immediately, but soon.

Hermione lifted up the sheets and looked down the neck of Draco's pajamas. Her eyes met with two beady yellow-gold eyes, obviously terrified. Hermione let loose a little gasp between her lips. The animal shrank back giving Hermione more of a view of the creature. Now, she could limit it to a rodent. It was conspicuous that it was a ferret. A small giggle escaped her control. She reached out and caught the small white beast—not for it not trying to abscond. She held it in two hands near her face. It stared at her with his head cocked to the side.

Suddenly the miniature brute yawned and curled up in her hands. Tucking his button nose under his tail, the ferret went to sleep. Hermione could not help what she did next:

"Awwww! How sweet."

What a mistake. The animal, without delay, whipped its head to look at Hermione angrily. It squeaked loudly and bit Hermione on her thumb. Hermione yelped and whacked the animal on the head.

"Jerk!" It didn't hurt much and the ferret didn't break the skin but it still startled Hermione.

"Don't hit him, Ms Granger. He's in a deplorable condition. You might further it."

"What are you talking about? It's a ferret."

"No, it's Mister Malfoy."

Hermione's head jerked back to the supposed Malfoy, her eyes wide with shock. Draco stared back at her, a dare in his eyes. Slowly, her mouth closed and her eyes lost the stupefied look. That was when Hermione made her second mistake.

She laughed in Draco Malfoy's face.

So, he did the one other attack capable in his present state . . . he peed.

This—of course—did not make Hermione happy in the least.

"Ugh! That's disgusting. And totally beneath you, Malfoy. God, take this thing please," she handed him to Madame Pomfrey, who was holding out a towel for Draco. "So was he always the ferret boy?"

"Yes," the healer said while carrying Draco to her office. Hermione followed behind her. As she looked over Madame Pomfrey's shoulder, she saw that Draco had fallen asleep again. After she put the ferret in an open drawer in her desk and closed the door, she turned to Hermione. "Hermione."

This address to her from the older woman usually so formal made Hermione anxious. She had a distinct feeling she was not going to like what she was about to hear.

"I want to ask you a favor."

"Okay," she replied slowly.

"Could you–might you—please, take care of Mister Malfoy for the next week."

"What!"

"Shhh!"

"Why? I mean, do you hate me?" Hermione couldn't help but think this was some kind of sick punishment. Or maybe, it was that Madame Pomfrey had taken a leave of her senses. As it turned out she was taking a leave . . . of her job.

"I'm going out of the country for a while. Other work." It was all Madame Pomfrey would say. Hermione and the healer argued for ten minutes before Hermione reluctantly agreed.

"But what exactly is wrong with him?"

"That boy, Morag MacDougal, cursed him with some pretty dark magic. He has to learn to control his feelings to control the spreading of the curse. The more excited he gets, the more ferret like he becomes."

"Who–who's Morag MacDougal?" Hermione knew the answer but needed to hear it from someone.

"The boy who raped you."

This was information not well received or given. Neither of the women wanted to think about the boy, what he did to Draco, or what he did to Hermione. Worse, what he almost did to Hermione. Hermione only wanted to know one more thing about the boy.

"Where is he now? I mean, what happen to him?"

"He's at Askaban. Where he belongs."

Suddenly memories came back to Hermione. The memories of her collapses. What happen right before each collapse was her bumping into someone. But she wouldn't collapse until she got a whiff of that someone's cologne. That someone was Morag MacDougal. She understood that now.

As she was realizing this and Madame Pomfrey was comforting her, neither saw a white ferret streak out of the infirmary.

Draco didn't know why he couldn't stand that drawer. It felt like—although he'd never been in one—sleeping in a coffin. So he climbed out as fast as his little paws could take him and ran out of the infirmary. No one noticed him as he left. He was hungry. He didn't know what he wanted to eat but he could smell food. He followed his nose to the Great Hall.

He ran in and squeaked loudly. No one heard him so he ran under the nearest table. He found a leg and streaked up it to the source hoping to get near the table top. Alas, it was not to be. His 'ladder' happen to be female and afraid of rodents. She was screaming loudly and jumping up and down.

"RAT! RAT! HELP!"

Draco ran across the table as fast as he could trying to escape the screams and danger. He stopped when he thought he was far enough away. He nibbled at the food in front of him while the owner of the plate complained.

"Ugh! Gross. Now, I've lost my appetite."

"Now, that's impossible."

When Draco had had his fill, he jumped from the table and landed nimbly on his four feet. He started running towards the exit at a leisurely pace. He had calmed down considerably. But soon the rug was ripped out from under his little paws.

He was no longer crouched on all fours but standing on two very human feet. Laughter and gasps of shock were the only sounds he heard. He looked around and say almost a thousand pairs of eyes watching him. Two things registered in his mind: One, it was lunchtime. And two . . .

He was completely stark naked.

One word came to mind and mouth: "Shit!"

He ran as fast as he could towards the exit thinking only of escape. But Draco only got as far as halfway when he saw Hermione Granger streak into the Great Hall like a blot of lightning only to come to a screeching halt when her eyes met Draco. He turned beat red. And so did she.

She resumed her previous pace but this time while taking off her outer robe. When she reached him, he yanked the robe from her hands and the two of them ran out of the Great Hall. When they reached the infirmary, Hermione spoke.

"Are you okay?"

"Am I okay? No, I am not bloody okay! I just streaked through the Great Hall! Everyone had a bird eye's view of my–my–my stuff."

"Well, it's not my fault that you left the infirmary in the state you were in. So don't yell at me!"

"I'm the laughing stock of the whole bloody school and all you can think is don't yell?"

"I rather agree with Miss Granger on this one. Stop yelling."

The two teenagers whipped around to face the whole staff of Hogwarts. Everyone—with the exception of McGonagall and Snape—looked very amused. If it was even possible, the two of them turned even more red. They could give the Weasley's a run for their money. Or as Draco would say, lack thereof. It had been Snape who had spoken and he didn't look like he wanted to speak again. Or look at them for that matter.

"Don't worry too much, Mr. Malfoy. Madame Pomfrey explained the situation to us. And we know you were not in your right mind. Just hungry," illuminated the Headmaster with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I foresaw this incident in my crystal ball—"

"Oh, shut up!" Hermione and Draco looked at each other, shocked that they agreed on something for they both shouted at the same time. Needless to say, Trelawney wasn't very pleased.

"I just want to get dressed and dig myself a hole to hide in for the rest of the century. I mean, not only has everyone seen . . . things, but also the one person who has the decency of an actual human being in that room to give me something to cover me up was Hermione Granger! The simple irony of the situation makes me gag." He was walking as he talked and everyone was following him. "I just shudder at what Potter and Weasley are even thinking at this moment. Let alone what they are saying!" By now he was behind a curtain that Hermione had put around him and she had handed him his clothes. The staff and her were waiting outside the curtain, listening to his rant. Would he ever shut up? "And what, pray tell, is the excuse you fed those idiots for the total leave of my senses?"

"The truth, of course," was the Headmaster's reply. That got a reaction.

"What?" screamed Draco ripping the curtain off of the mental pole it was previously attached to. He was only wearing his boxers and this whole time the staff and Hermione were trying their best and failing horribly to contain their laughter. At the sight of his flushed face, they finally burst out laughing. "SHUT UP! I can't take it anymore. That's it. Granger, Avada Kedva me right now. Just shoot me with everything you've got. I know you're capable of the curse. Please." He was practically begging now but Hermione just kept laughing as did everyone else in the room. "You're supposed to be adults. Act like it!"

"Malfoy, you might want to tuck that in," Hermione said between wheezing laughs. He looked down.

"Ahh!" He whipped around and hunched over. "Why! Why me! I've never been so humiliated in my life! Is it the sole purpose of this school to kill and maim my pride? Do I have some kind of cosmic sign tattooed to my forehead that says 'disgrace-at-will?'"

"Yes, actually you do," replied Trelawney giggling.

"Son of fucking bitch ball bastard!"

"Mr. Malfoy! That will twenty points from Slytherin! Don't let me hear that kind of audacious profanity again!"

The only response McGonagall got was a very high pitched scream of frustration. Which sent everyone laughing again. "That's it! That. Is. It." He marched over to the window and opened it. Hermione stopped laughing and ran to him. She grabbed his arm but he didn't turn to look at her. Draco was watching something outside the window. Hermione looked out at the grounds. She gasped at the sight that met her eyes.

Three members of the order were making their way to the front entrance. They did not look very happy. In fact, they looked down right grave. Hermione looked back to the staff and shushed them. By the look on her face, Dumbledore realized something bad was about to happen and silenced the staff. He walked over to the window and saw the three men.

"Everyone back to class. You two stay here." And with that they were left alone. Dumbledore went to greet the men. Draco and Hermione kept watching their short journey towards the castle.

"What do you think they're here for?"

"I don't know, but it can't be good," he replied. Draco broke his concentration on the men as something registered in his mind. Hermione was still griping his arm but this time she was holding on tightly. He didn't know what he was doing but suddenly he put his hand on hers. The levity, obviously, was gone and in its place was only the darkness that came with bad news. Draco could only hope that it had nothing to do with a certain ex-prefect. His hope was in vain.


End file.
